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Prick up your ears to ANAKLASIS. Stanisław Moniuszko’s opera ‘The Raftsman’ and Roman Palester’s concertinos
2020-03-05
Two new releases on ANAKLASIS. PWM’s enthusiastically received new label launches its HERITAGE series with an archive recording of Stanisław Moniuszko’s opera The Raftsman. This is a pearl of Polish phonography, featuring consummate opera singers of the mid-twentieth century. And that’s not the only surprise. Also coming out is an album of music by one of the most outstanding Polish composers of the twentieth century, the still underexposed Roman Palester. That disc is the second in the PORTRAITS series, following Maciej Zieliński’s Archipelago.
The record label ANAKLASIS was launched in the autumn of 2019 under the auspices of PWM. The aim was to present a broad spectrum of genres and styles, excellent performers and renowned composers. On one hand, the newest music; on the other, little-known treasures from the phonographic archives, released in the series HERITAGE. That is the series which opens with an outstanding 1962 recording from the National Digital Archive: Stanisław Moniuszko’s The Raftsman. This masterful performance is sure to capture listeners’ hearts. We hear legendary voices, including Halina Słonicka, a soloist with the Warsaw Opera (later the Teatr Wielki), Bernard Ładysz, one of the most outstanding Polish opera singers of all time, the excellent tenor Bogdan Paprocki, Andrzej Hiolski, one of the most fabulous Polish baritones, and the bass Antoni Majak. The soloists are accompanied by the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus under the baton of Zdzisław Górzyński. A true collector’s item – a must-have for any opera enthusiast.
On the second disc in the PORTRAITS series, the excellent Sinfonia Iuventus presents music by Roman Palester. His concertinos, performed by the brilliant saxophonist Alina Mleczko, hailed by Gramophone as a star interpreter of contemporary music, pianist Clare Hammond and harpsichordist Maciej Skrzeczkowski, are complemented by the Serenade for two flutes and string orchestra, featuring the matchless Agata Kielar-Długosz and Łukasz Długosz in the solo parts.
On 8 March, at the Polish record industry’s annual awards ceremony, held at the NOSPR in Katowice, we will learn which of the nominees will receive a prestigious Fryderyk statuette for 2020. Up for selection in the Album of the Year – Contemporary Music category is the splendid disc Works for Rhodes Piano & Strings, performed by Piotr Orzechowski (‘Pianohooligan’) and the AUKSO Chamber Orchestra of Tychy under the baton of Marek Moś. Meanwhile, the original interpretations of Stanisław Moniuszko songs which Agata Zubel, Andrzej Bauer and Cezary Duchnowski recorded on the disc E-ŚPIEWNIK are nominated for Album of the Year – Chamber Music.
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The esteemed American-Canadian jazz musician Michael Bates, his Acrobat Ensemble and the Lutosławski Quartet will perform three concerts in Poland in November. The repertoire will include material recorded by the musicians on the album METAMORPHOSES: VARIATIONS ON LUTOSŁAWSKI, released by ANAKLASIS in the REVISIONS series.
The artists have already successfully presented it at Lincoln Center and Barbès Jazz Club in New York. In autumn 2024 we will have the opportunity to hear them live for the first time in Poland: 14.11 - Krakow, 15.11 - Lublin, 17.11 - Wroclaw.
The Fryderyk Chopin Institute in Warsaw invites to the inaugural session of the biennial International Digital Musicology Conference, which will be held 23–25 October 2024, at the Fryderyk Chopin Institute in Warsaw, Poland. The conference focuses on the integration of digital technologies into musicological research, with a special emphasis on introducing digital tools and methods to the Polish academic community, where digital musicology has not yet been widely adopted.
It’ s like a game. The memory game, thanks to which you can look at a very ordinary family from an extraordinary perspective. ALBUM RODZINNY [Family album] – an opera by Jerzy Kornowicz with a libretto by Michał Rusinek – is another premiere of the ANAKLASIS label this year. This time, the record brand is expanding its audience to include the youngest listeners. The album will be released on 21st June.
Time passes constantly, changing the world and its soundscape around us. The title IL TEMPO PASSA may be both a reflection on the impermanence of life, world and things and a piece of advice to enjoy the moment. The latest album by ANAKLASIS presents Joanna Wnuk-Nazarowa’s cameral and symphonic works from recent years. Premiere on 28 May 2024, on the composer’s 75th birthday.
It is a musical-literary tale about a quest for identity, truth, and for what makes us human. The new stage work by Aleksander Nowak – which is, at the same time, Radek Rak’s operatic debut – explores the sources of good and evil, fusing reality with mythology and steering towards ‘the left-hand side of the world’. The authors spin a tale about the dual human nature. THE TALE OF THE HEART. FAVOLA IN MUSICA – the album that presents their joint project – will go on sale on 6th October.
Spectacularly successful as Ludomir Różycki’s music was in his lifetime, it is seldom programmed nowadays. All the same, such remarkable art could hardly fall into utter oblivion. It has attracted and fascinated excellent jazz pianist Kuba Stankiewicz, who has translated it into the language of jazz. The effects have been recorded and released on ANAKLASIS label’s most recent album, INSPIRED BY LUDOMIR RÓŻYCKI, which goes on sale as of 28th August.
PWM Edition is entering the execution phase of the revitalisation of its Warsaw department. With the commencement of the renovation and the implementation of the assumptions of the architectural design, the Hire Department and the editorial office of “Ruch Muzyczny” are moving to a temporary headquarters at 19 Wiejska Street, Warsaw.
This is by no means a piece about the centuries-long Polish-German conflict. It is, instead, a tale of impossible love, of tragic conflict between personal happiness and the common good.
PWM Edition resumes cooperation with the Italian publishing house Ricordi, as well as with its international partners forming Universal Music Publishing Classics & Screen. This means that rentals of orchestral materials from the catalogues of all publishing houses belonging to Classics & Screen is carried out in Poland by Dział Zbiorów Nutowych (Sheet Music Department) of PWM.
